Film projection apparatus with pivotally controlled claw feed



Aug. 29, 1950 KOEBER, JR 2,520,843

FILM PROJE ON APPARATUS WITH PIVOTALLY CONTROLLED CLAW FEED Filed Dec. 2'7, 1948- 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Aug. 29, 1950 I 1 H. J. KoEBER, JR" 2,520,843

' FILM PROJECTION APPARATUS WITH PIVOTALLY CONTROLLED CLAW FEED Filed Dec. 27, 1948 if 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 /0 Z5 v k9 i| I C; 3a

fig. /\/M\ y 52 Z5 M IIUTI' T 3111111 1 i 4, Hfl/ILIH=(/ mm Patented Aug. 29, 1950 FILM" PROJECTION APPARATUS WITH PIVOTALLY CONTROLLED FEED Henry J. Kceber, Jr., Chicago,llll, .assignorato Illinois WatchC'ase (30., a corporationlof Illinois ApplicatinnDecember 27, 1948; seriamm 67,536

..6 Claims. 1

This invention relates to film, projection apparatus, and more particularly to improvedapparatus for. mounting the film-moving claw member on afilm projector,

'Oneieature of thisinvention is that it provides improved claw mounting apparatus; another fee. ture of this invention is that it provides a claw mounting comprising a freely pivotal link supporting claw member, said link being mounted for translational movement on said projector to change therelative location on said projector of said 'claw to permit adjustment in the framing of the film; a further feature of this invention is that the link is'pivotally connectedat oneend to the claw member and pivotally connected at the other end to a movable'member, movement of said movable member imparting translational movement to said link to change the relative location on the projector of the pivotal connection between the linkand the claw member; an additional. feature of this invention is that it provides apparatus comprising'arotatahle shaft having a crank thereon, said link being pivotally connected'to the crank, and rotation of theshait imparting translational movement to the'link; still another feature of this invention is that stopmeans are provided for limiting the degree of rotation of the shaftso' thatJthe claw'member isnotshifted horizontally from itsoperatingpw sition.

Other features and advantages of this invention will be apparent'from thefollowing specification and from the drawings in which:

Fig. l is a side elevation of a sound film projector incorporating the invention;

Fig. 2 is anenlarged horizontal section through a portion of the projector of Fig. l, showingthe apparatus of the invention in top plan view;.and

Fig. 3 is a section taken along the line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

In the projector illustrated in Fig. 1 a casing ill carries a film feed spool l I and a film take-up spool I2, at least the take-up spool being driven in conventional manner, as by an electric motor (not shown) in the casing. A film 13 which is initially. wound on the feed spool H is transferred to the take-up spool 52 during the operation of the projector. In its passage from-the feed spool to the take-up spool the film passes over a sprocket l4 whichhas teeth Ma adapted to engage regu larly spaced openings 13a along one edge ofthe film, and. after leaving the sprocket i l the film is fed pasta film gate designated generally at l 5 in Fig.1. and having portions l5a and I51) as may be seen in Figs. 2 and 3. A projectionlamp prise-a translating device, as for exampleraphotc- '2. (not shown) within the casing l0 illuminates that portiomof the-filmwhichis opposite the aperture in-the'gate, l5 when a shutter onthe gate is open, and a lens arrangement H5 is, adapted to focus the beam-10f lightona screen.

Means are provided for causing the film to move" intermittentlyppast the gate so that each frame of :the film is stationary duringthe time the "shutter isiopen that light from the; projection lamp. is thrown upon the film. Thismeansjis illustratedin Fig. .1 as comprisinga claw member designatedgenerally at: H drivenlby. acam arrangement. designated generally at l8. After leaving the. gate l5'the filmpasses over a.roller l9. being held in frictional contact with saidzroller by a lever arm ilowhic-h' oarriesa supplemental roller 20a.

In the sound projector, illustrated a sound/drum Z-Dcarries thenow continuously movingfilm past the sound take-off apparatus which may. com

electric cell,- housed in the sound drum 2 I adjacent the: sound track of'the, film l3, anda source of radiant-energy (not shown) within a housing-22 on the projector on the other-side of, the film.

.In-theconventional operation ofca sound projec tor, waves developed by the source'of' radiantenergyare. modulated by the-soundindications: on the sonnd'track, and these modulated waves strike the photoelectric celland are translated into elecrical energy. In thesound projector illustrated-a transmitting device comprising an oscillator and an amplifier develops carrier waves which are modulated bythe energy from the photoelectric cell, and the modulated carrier. waves aretrans mitted to'receiving andreproducingmeans which may comprise: a conventional radio, receiver;

After leaving thelsound drumpthe film moves over another roller 23, over a take-upisprccket 24..and::cnto-the takeeup spool 12.. Since the general OPSIBtiOHOfa sound projector is well known to the art, the operation of the projected. illustrated Will not be described in greater detail here. The present invention relates to improved means for" mounting the claw member ll on the .projectorto permit-normal operating movement of the-claw movement and to permit adjustments in properly framing; the film. Since the: film is moving continuously as it passes over the-sprocket 14, but must move intermittently past the gate 55; thezfilmis formed into a free-loop between the sprocket M and the gate I5 as shown at 5.311, and "another loop i between the. gate and theroller l9; insures that. the film is against continuously moving. beforeit passes over the sound drumiil In order to provide for desired intermittent movement whereby the film frame of the film is stationary at least during the time that light from the projection lamp is thrown upon it the claw member I! is operated by the cam apparatus I8 through a closed cycle. In the portion of the cycle illustrated in Fig. 1 the claw member I! has just pulled a frame of the film into alignment with the aperture in the gate I5, claws or tines Ho and III) on said claw member entering an aperture I5b' in the gate portion I51; and entering openings I3a in the film in order to engage the film to complete this operation. During the operation of the projector the cam'structure I8 causes the claw member II to move horizontally forwardly of the projector or to the right (as the parts are positioned in the drawing) so that the claws or tines IIa and Ill) are withdrawn from engagement with thefilm. After moving the I claw member to the right out of engagement with the film the cam structure I8 causes the claw member II to pivot about its pivotal mounting point so'that the tines I'Iaand Ill) move upwardly, still out of engagement with the film, and at the next phase of the cycle of operation the claw moves horizontally rearwardly of the projector or to the left, the tines Ila, and I'll) entering two adjacent openings IBa of the film. When the claw member pivots downwardly to the position of Fig. 1 the film is pulled downwardly so that the next succeeding frame is in alignment with the aperture in the gate. The operation of the gate is synchronized with the operation of the claw so that the shutter is closed and light from the projection lamp is blocked from the film during the time the film is moving.

Referring more particularly to Figs. 2 and 3, the cam structure I8 comprises a pair of discs 26 and 21 mounted on a shaft 28 and carrying between them a cam 29 having a surface adapted to cooperate with the inner cam follower surface of the generally block 0 shaped body portion lie of the claw member to produce the operational cycle earlier described. The body portion of the claw comprises spaced parallel bottom and top sides designated at He and lid, respectively and spaced parallel front and rear sides He and II respectively, the tines Ila and Ho projecting from the front side He near the bottom thereof. The claw member is urged into engagement with the film by means of a spring 39 having one end attached to the gate portion I51) and the other end attached to the claw member I 1' adjacent the lower rear corner thereof. The claw member I! has an offset portion I'lg adjacent the juncture of the sides Ho and [If and'terminates in a forwardly extending mounting portion I'Ih pivotally supported at 25, this mounting portion being at the other end of the claw from the tines Ho and I11), and the cam 29 operating within the block 0 between said ends of the claw member.

It has heretofore been the practice to provide a claw member having a slot at its back end and to provide a stud in the slot for the pivotal operation of the claw member and providing that framing may be accomplished merely by finger pressure at any time during the operation of the projector.

At the end of the mounting portion I'Ih the claw member is pivotally connected at 25 to a link 3 I, the other end of the link being pivotally connected at 32 to a crank 33 which has an arm portion to which the link is pivotally connected and a portion providing a pair of angularly facing stop shoulders 33a; and 33b. The crank 33 is mounted on a sleeve 35a carried by a rotatable shaft 35 extending from the projector and carrying a lever 35 having a finger button 31 for manual rotation of the shaft. A pair of lugs 38 and '39 cooperate with the shoulders 33a, and 33b to provide a stop to limit the rotation of said shaft in both directions, said shaft preferably being limited to an angular rotation of the order of 35 degrees.

It will be seen from a consideration of Fig. 3 that while one end of the link 3I is pivotally connected to the claw member, the other end of the link is pivotally movable during normal operation of the projector and the link is at the same time mounted for translational movement on the proj ector to change the relative location on the projector of the pivotal connection between the link and the claw member, since the upper end of the link is pivoted on a movable member. In the operation of the projector if the framing is incorrect so that a portion of two frames on the film are aligned with the aperture in the gate I5, finger pressure on the lever 36 will rotate the shaft 35, moving the arm portion of the crank 33 and imparting translational movement to the link to change the vertical location of the pivot point 25.

By limiting the angle of rotation of the shaft 7 35 through an angle of the order of 35 degrees, I

assure that the translational movement of'the link 3I is in'a substantially straight line, and consequently there is no danger that the claw will be moved horizontally beyond its operating limits with the consequent probability of damaging the film, or (if the claw were moved too far to the right) of failing to engage the film during each cycle of operation of the claw member.

In addition, while providing improved results, the mounting apparatus described simplifies the manufacture of the projector since most of the parts may comprise stampings.

While I have shown and described certain embodiments of my invention it is to be understood that it is capable of many modifications. Changes, therefore, in the construction and arrangement may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as disclosed in the appended claims.

, I claim:

1. In a film projector having a gate and a cam operated member having a claw at one end for moving said film intermittently past said gate, means for mounting said member on said projector, comprising: a link having one end pivotally connected to said member adjacent the other end thereof for pivotal movement about an axis which is fixed with reference to said member, said cam operating between said ends of said member; and a movable member mounted on said projector and having the other end of said link pivotally 5 tion on said projector of said first mentioned pivotal connection.

2. In a film projector having a gate and a claw member for moving said film intermittently past said gate, means for mounting said member on said projector, comprising: a link having one end pivotally connected to said member adjacent the other end thereof; a rotatable shaft on said projector; a crank mounted on said shaft and pivotally connected to the other end of said link, otation of said shaft imparting translational movement to said link to change the relative location on said projector of said first mentioned pivotal connection; and apparatus connected directly to the shaft for manually rotating said shaft.

3. In a film projector having a gate and a claw member for moving said film intermittently past said gate, means for mounting said member on said projector, comprising: a link having one end pivotally connected to said member adjacent the other end thereof; a rotatable shaft on said projector; a crank mounted on said shaft and pivotally connected to the other end of said link, rotation of said shaft imparting translational movement to said link to change the relative location on said projector of said first mentioned pivotal connection; and a stop comprising shoulders on said crank on opposite sides of said shaft for limiting the rotation of said shaft.

4 In a film projector having a gate and a cam operated member having a claw at one end for moving said film intermittently past said gate, means for mounting said member on said projector, comprising: a link having one end connected to said member adjacent the other end thereof for pivotal movement about an axis which is fixed with reference to said member, said cam operating between said ends of said member; a rotatable shaft on said projector; a crank mounted on said shaft and pivotally connected to the other end of said link, rotation of said shaft imparting translational movement to said link to change the relative location on said projector of said first mentioned pivotal connection; apparatus for manually rotating said shaft; and a stop for limiting the rotation of said shaft, the shaft being yieldably held between the extreme limits of said stop for instantaneous movement between said limits upon operation of the manual apparatus.

5. In a film projector having a gate and a cam 5 operated member having a claw at one end for moving said film intermittently past said gate, means for mounting said member on said projector, comprising: a link having one end pivotally connected to said member adjacent the other end thereof, said cam operating between said ends of said member; a rotatable shaft on said projector; a crank mounted on said shaft, said crank having a portion adjacent the shaft providing at least one stop shoulder, and said crank having an arm portion pivotally connected to the other end of said link, rotation of said shaft imparting translational movement to said link to change the relative location on said projector of said first mentioned pivotal connection; a lever on said shaft for manually rotating said shaft; and at least one lug on said projector adjacent the shaft, said lug cooperating with said shoulder to provide a stop for limiting the rotation of said shaft in both directions.

6. In a film projector having a gate and a cam operated member having a claw at one end for moving said film intermittently past said gate means for mounting said member on said projector, comprising: a link having one end connected to said member adjacent the other end thereof for pivotal movement about an axis which is fixed with reference to said member, said cam operating between said ends of said member; a rotatable shaft on said projector; a crank mounted on said shaft, said crank having a portion providing a pair of angularly-facing stop shoulders, and said crank having an arm portion pivotally connected to the other end of said link, rotation of said shaft imparting translational movement to said link to change the vertical location on said projector of said first mentioned pivotal connection; a lever on said shaft for manually rotatin said shaft, said lever being rotatable about the axis of said shaft; and a pair of lugs on said projector, said lugs cooperating with said shoulders to provide a stop for limiting the rotation of said shaft through an angle of the order of 35 degrees.

HENRY J. KOEBER, JR.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 2,233,839 Heurtier Mar. 4, 1941 2,281,726 Stechbart Mar. 5, 1942 2,335,435 Morgan et a1. Nov. 30, 1943 Certificate of Correction Patent No. 2,520,843 August 29, 1950 HENRY J. KOEBER, JR.

It is hereby certified that error appears in the printed specification of the above numbered patent requiring correction as follows:

Column 2, line 54, for the Word against read again;

and that the said Letters Patent should be read as corrected above, so that the same may conform to the record of the case in the Patent Ofiice.

Signed and sealed this 28th day of November, A. D. 1950.

THOMAS F. MURPHY,

Assistant Commissioner of Patents. 

